Mobile terminals for supplementing game module resources and methods and computer program products for operating the same

ABSTRACT

Mobile terminals include a portable housing and a wireless communication network interface circuit in the housing. A memory is coupled to the housing and a user interface is in the housing. A data interface in the housing is configured to be operatively coupled to a game module and a controller in the housing is configured to couple the memory and/or the user interface of the mobile terminal to the game module through the data interface to supplement resources of the game module using the memory and/or the user interface. Methods and computer program products are also provided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to mobile terminals and methods andcomputer program products for operating the same and, more particularly,to audio circuits, methods and computer program products for processingan audio signal of such devices.

A variety of consumer devices, including mobile devices, such as mobileterminals, include both a processor and user input/output devices, suchas displays, speakers, microphones and the like. For such devices, theprocessor is generally configured to process different forms of mediacontent, such as audio files, pictures, animations and the like. Formobile terminals, the processor is also generally configured to processvoice and/or video content that may be associated with a phone callvoice connection established to the mobile terminal or a dataconnection.

Another popular consumer device is a game console. In general, users ofgame consoles have a need to be able to save to memory and/or load intomemory levels achieved, game progress, and other game relatedinformation to allow them to maintain the status of a game in progressfor restarting on their own game console or for installation on anothergame console to run a game on a different game console. This ability tosave game information is generally supported by game consoles throughthe use of removable memory cards that may be plugged into the gameconsole. However, very motivated gamers would enjoy playing theirfavorite games anywhere and whenever an opportunity to do so arises. Asa result, frequently, a game user may not have a memory card on his orher person to allow them to load or save their game data. Therefore,game users may not always be able to take advantage of the ability tosave user data and game progress information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In some embodiments of the present invention, mobile terminals include aportable housing and a wireless communication network interface circuitin the housing. A memory is coupled to the housing and a user interfaceis in the housing. A data interface in the housing is configured to beoperatively coupled to a game module and a controller in the housing isconfigured to couple the memory and/or the user interface of the mobileterminal to the game module through the data interface to supplementresources of the game module using the memory and/or the user interface.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the controller isconfigured to obtain user data associated with a game from the gamemodule and to save the obtained user data in the memory responsive to auser request. The controller may also be configured to provide saveduser data from the memory to the game module. The data interface may be,for example, a Bluetooth interface, an infrared interface and/or a datacable interface, which data cable interface may be a serial businterface. The memory may be a removable memory.

In further embodiments of the present invention, the user interfaceincludes a display of the mobile terminal and the controller isconfigured to couple the display of the mobile terminal to the gamemodule for use by the game module in displaying supplemental game userinformation while continuing display of graphics associated with a gameon a display of the game module. The user interface may include a userinput interface and the controller may be configured to couple the userinput interface to the game module to allow a user to obtain informationassociated with the game from the game module based on a user requestinput to the game module through the user input interface of the mobileterminal.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the supplementalinformation is inventory information associated with a character of thegame, a map associated with the game, a playbook associated with thegame and/or a character to character communication visual interfaceassociated with the game. The user input interface may be a keypad ofthe mobile terminal and the information associated with the game may beinventory information associated with a character of the game.

In yet further embodiments of the present invention, methods ofsupplementing game module resources with a mobile terminal includecommunicatively linking the mobile terminal to the game module using adata interface of the mobile terminal. A memory and/or a user interfaceof the mobile terminal are utilized to supplement resources of the gamemodule.

In other embodiments of the present invention, utilizing a memory and/ora user interface includes obtaining user data associated with a gamefrom the game module and saving the obtained user data in the memoryresponsive to a user request. Saved user data may be provided from thememory to the game module.

In yet other embodiments of the present invention, the user interfaceincludes a display of the mobile terminal and utilizing a memory and/ora user interface includes coupling the display of the mobile terminal tothe game module and using the display of the mobile terminal to displaysupplemental game user information while continuing display of graphicsassociated with a game on a display of the game module. The userinterface may include a user input interface and utilizing a memoryand/or a user interface may include coupling the user input interface ofthe mobile terminal to the game module and inputting a user request tothe game module through the user input interface of the mobile terminalto obtain information associated with the game from the game module.

While described above primarily with reference to apparatus and methodaspects, it will be understood that the present invention also includescomputer program products for supplementing game module resources with amobile terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a mobile terminal according tosome embodiments of the present invention and an exemplary base stationtransceiver and gaming module.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating methods for supplementing game moduleresources according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating methods for supplementing game moduleresources according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating methods for supplementing game moduleresources according to some embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Specific exemplary embodiments of the invention now will be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. The terminology used in the detailed description ofthe particular exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In thedrawings, like numbers refer to like elements.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. Itwill be further understood that the terms “includes,” “comprises,”“including” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood thatwhen an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” toanother element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the otherelement or intervening elements may be present. Furthermore, “connected”or “coupled” as used herein may include wirelessly connected or coupled.As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

As used herein, a “mobile terminal” includes both devices having only awireless signal receiver without transmit abilities and devices havingboth receive and transmit hardware capable of two-way communication overa two-way communication link. Such devices may include cellular or othercommunications devices with or without a multi-line display; PersonalCommunications System (PCS) terminals that may combine a voice and dataprocessing, facsimile and/or data communications capabilities; PersonalDigital Assistants (PDA) that can include a radio frequency receiver anda pager, Internet/Intranet access, Web browser, organizer, calendarand/or a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; and/or conventionallaptop and/or palmtop computers or other appliances, which include aradio frequency receiver. As used herein, “mobile terminals” may beportable, transportable, installed in a vehicle (aeronautical, maritime,or land-based), or situated and/or configured to operate locally and/orin a distributed fashion at any other location(s) on earth and/or inspace. As used herein, a “mobile device” includes mobile terminals aswell as mobile devices that do not support wireless communications.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described below withrespect to FIGS. 1 through 4. Referring first to FIG. 1, a schematicblock circuit diagram is provided illustrating a mobile terminalincluding a data interface to a gaming module in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates a mobileterminal 22 and a base station transceiver 24 of a wirelesscommunications network. The mobile terminal 22 includes a portablehousing 23 and may include, a keyboard 26, a display 28, a speaker 32, amicrophone 34, a transceiver 36, and a memory 38, any of which maycommunicate with a controller (processor) 42. Furthermore, the mobileterminal 22 includes a data interface 29, which also communicates withthe processor 42. The processor 42 can be any commercially available orcustom microprocessor.

The data interface 29 is configured to be operatively coupled to a gamemodule 50. For example, the data interface 29 may be a data cable, aninfrared (IR) port and/or a Bluetooth transmitter circuit that may beused to transmit user data and game progress information from the gamemodule 50 to the mobile terminal 22 for storage thereof by thecontroller 42 in the memory 38. The data cable may be, for example, aserial bus interface, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.Furthermore, where the game module 50 includes an interface that may becommunicatively coupled to the base station transceiver 24, the datainterface 29 may be provided by the transceiver 36 and need not be aseparate interface circuit as illustrated schematically in FIG. 1.

The transceiver 36 typically includes a transmitter circuit 44 and areceiver circuit 46, which respectively transmit outgoing radiofrequency signals to the base station transceiver 24 and receiveincoming radio frequency signals, such as voice call and data signals,from the base station transceiver 24 via an antenna 48. The antenna 48may be an embedded antenna, a retractable antenna or any antenna knownto those having skill in the art without departing from the scope of thepresent invention. The radio frequency signals transmitted between themobile terminal 22 and the base station transceiver 24 may include bothtraffic and control signals (e.g., paging signals/messages for incomingcalls), which are used to establish and maintain a voice callcommunication with another party or to transmit and/or receive data,such as e-mail or MMS messages, with a remote device. The processor 42may support various functions of the mobile terminal 22, includingfunctions related to the audio signal processing circuit 29 of themobile terminal 22 according to some embodiments of the presentinvention.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the base stationtransceiver 24 is a radio transceiver(s) that defines a cell in acellular network and communicates with the mobile terminal 22 and othermobile terminals in the cell using a radio-link protocol. Although onlya single base station transceiver 24 is shown, it will be understoodthat many base station transceivers may be connected through, forexample, a mobile switching center and other devices, to define awireless communications network.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the controller 42 isconfigured to couple the memory 38 and/or one of the user interfacedevices, such as the display 28 or the keypad 26, to the game module 50through the data interface 29. More particularly, the controller 42 isconfigured to allow use of the data interface 29 to supplement resourcesof the game module 50 using the memory 38, display 28 and/or keypad 26of the mobile terminal 22. As such, on occasions when a user of a gamemodule 50 does not have a memory card on hand, but has their mobileterminal 22 available, the user of the game module 50 may save theirprogress/status for a game underway on the game module 50 on theirmobile terminal 22. This ability may be particularly advantageous as auser of the game module 50 may be more likely to be carrying the mobileterminal 22 on their person more often than a memory card. Such anability to save a game user's progress information to a mobile phone tosupport gaming may provide an added advantageous capability to themobile phone by providing convenience to a user who is likely to havethe mobile phone on their person at most times.

Where the memory 38 of the mobile terminal 22 is utilized by the gamemodule 50, in certain embodiments of the present invention, the usergame data could be transmitted through the data interface 29 and storedinternally, using non-volatile memory. It may also be stored externally,using a removable memory card or the like, depending upon the types ofmemory 38 available to the mobile terminal 22.

In addition to use of the memory 38 to supplement the game module 50,multimedia and connectivity features of various mobile terminals 22 mayallow for additional supplementation of game module resources in mannersother than the usage of memory to save user game progress data and thelike. For example, in addition to or as an option to saving game data onthe mobile terminal 22, the data interface 29 may be utilized by thecontroller 42 to allow the mobile terminal 22 to be used as a “gamingcompanion.” For example, using the mobile terminal's multimedia ability,the mobile terminal 22 could be used as part of the game.

One example of such a multimedia usage would be in connection with agame having game characters with an associated inventory. In suchinstances, the mobile terminal 22 could be the game player interface tothe inventory of a game character. By way of further example, for afirst person shooter game, a level map as well as a current location ofa character could be displayed on the display 28 of the mobile terminal22. By way of yet further example, in a sports game, an associated playbook and current play selection could be displayed on the display 28 ofthe mobile terminal 22 in a manner that would allow it to be kept secretfrom an opponent. By way of further example, various military-stylegames have game characters that communicate character to characterthrough a visual interface, which typically stops game play on a gamemodule 50. This communication visual interface could instead bedisplayed on the display 28 of the mobile terminal 22, which mayeliminate the need for a pause in action. Thus, in various embodimentsof the present invention, using the mobile terminal 22 as a resource forgame maps, inventory and the like may allow for a better, morecontinuous game experience, without the need for diverting into thedisplay of menus and the like on a display 51 of the game module 50 thatmay interrupt game play.

As described above, in various embodiments of the present invention,user and game progress data from the game module 50 may be uploadedthrough the interface 29 and stored in the memory 38 by the controller42. Similarly, user and game data progress from the memory 38 may bedownloaded through the data interface 29 to the game module 50 to allowa user to resume play, for example, at a stop point of a game inprogress.

In addition, a user input interface, such as a keypad 26, may be coupledby the controller 42 through the data interface 29 to the game module 50to allow a user to obtain information associated with a game from thegame module 50 based on a user request input to the game module 50through the keypad 26 or other user input interface with the mobileterminal 22. As described in various examples above, the display 28 ofthe mobile terminal 22 may also be coupled by the controller 42 throughthe data interface 29 to the game module 50 to allow display ofsupplemental game user information while continuing display of graphicsassociated with the game on the display 51 of the game module 50. Thesupplemental information for display (or that is obtained from the gamemodule 50 responsive to user request) may include inventory informationassociated with the character of the game, maps associated with thegame, a play book associated with the game, and/or a character tocharacter communication visual interface associated with the game asdiscussed above.

Methods for supplementing game module resources with a mobile terminalaccording to various embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed with reference to the flow chart illustration of FIGS. 2-4. Asseen in FIG. 2, operations begin at Block 200 by communicatively linkingthe mobile terminal 22 to the game module using the data interface 29 ofthe mobile terminal 22. A memory 38 and/or user interface 26, 28 of themobile terminal 22 are utilized to supplement resources of the gamemodule (Block 210).

Further embodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to the flow chart illustration of FIG. 3, which illustratesvarious operations for some embodiments of the present inventioncorresponding to Block 210 of FIG. 2. As shown in the embodiments ofFIG. 3, user data associated with a game is obtained from the gamemodule (Block 300). The obtained user data is saved in the memory of themobile terminal responsive to the user request (Block 310). The saveduser data may be provided from the memory back to the game module (Block315).

Yet further embodiments of operations for utilizing mobile terminalresources to supplement game module resources will now be described withreference to the flowchart illustration of FIG. 4. As shown in theembodiments of FIG. 4, a display of the mobile terminal is coupled tothe game module (Block 400). The display of the mobile terminal is usedto display supplemental game user information while continuing displayof graphics associated with the game on a display of the game module(Block 410). Also shown in the embodiments of FIG. 4 is the use of auser input interface of the mobile terminal that is coupled to the gamemodule (Block 420). A user request is input to the game module throughthe user input interface, such as a keypad, of the mobile terminal toobtain information associated with the game from the game module (Block430). For example, game character inventory information could beobtained by user request through a keypad 26 of the mobile terminal 22and displayed for a user on the display 28 of the mobile terminal 22.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, a software embodiment or an embodiment combiningsoftware and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a“circuit” or “module.” Furthermore, the present invention may take theform of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage mediumhaving computer-usable program code embodied in the medium. Any suitablecomputer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs,optical storage devices, a transmission media such as those supportingthe Internet or an intranet, or magnetic storage devices.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in an object oriented programming language suchas Java®, Smalltalk or C++. However, the computer program code forcarrying out operations of the present invention may also be written inconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language and/or a lower level assembler language. Theprogram code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on theuser's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connectedto the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

Furthermore, the present invention was described in part above withreference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods,apparatus (systems) and computer program products according toembodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block ofthe flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations ofblocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can beimplemented by computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions may be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The diagrams of FIGS. 2 through 4 illustrate the architecture,functionality, and operations of some embodiments of methods, systems,and computer program products for supplementing game resources using amobile terminal. In this regard, each block may represent a module,segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executableinstructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). Itshould also be noted that in other implementations, the function(s)noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the figures. Forexample, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executedsubstantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed inthe reverse order, depending on the functionality involved.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed exemplaryembodiments of the invention. Although specific terms are employed, theyare used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation, the scope of the invention being defined by the followingclaims.

1. A mobile terminal, comprising: a portable housing; a wirelesscommunication network interface circuit in the housing; a memory coupledto the housing; a user interface in the housing; a data interface in thehousing configured to be operatively coupled to a game module; and acontroller in the housing configured to couple the memory and/or theuser interface of the mobile terminal to the game module through thedata interface to supplement resources of the game module using thememory and/or the user interface.
 2. The mobile terminal of claim 1,wherein the controller is configured to obtain user data associated witha game from the game module and to save the obtained user data in thememory responsive to a user request.
 3. The mobile terminal of claim 1,wherein the controller is configured to provide saved user data from thememory to the game module.
 4. The mobile terminal of claim 2, whereinthe data interface comprises a Bluetooth interface, an infraredinterface and/or a data cable interface.
 5. The mobile terminal of claim4, wherein the data cable interface comprises a serial bus interface. 6.The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the memory comprises a removablememory.
 7. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the user interfacecomprises a display of the mobile terminal and wherein the controller isconfigured to couple the display of the mobile terminal to the gamemodule for use by the game module in displaying supplemental game userinformation while continuing display of graphics associated with a gameon a display of the game module.
 8. The mobile terminal of claim 7,wherein the user interface further comprises a user input interface andwherein the controller is configured to couple the user input interfaceto the game module to allow a user to obtain information associated withthe game from the game module based on a user request input to the gamemodule through the user input interface of the mobile terminal.
 9. Themobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises adisplay of the mobile terminal and wherein the controller is configuredto couple the display of the mobile terminal to the game module for useby the game module in displaying supplemental game user informationwhile continuing display of graphics associated with a game on a displayof the game module.
 10. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein thesupplemental information comprises inventory information associated witha character of the game, a map associated with the game, a playbookassociated with the game and/or a character to character communicationvisual interface associated with the game.
 11. The mobile terminal ofclaim 9, wherein the user interface further comprises a user inputinterface and wherein the controller is configured to couple the userinput interface to the game module to allow a user to obtain informationassociated with the game from the game module based on a user requestinput to the game module through the user input interface of the mobileterminal.
 12. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the user interfacecomprises a user input interface and wherein the controller isconfigured to couple the user input interface to the game module toallow a user to obtain information associated with the game from thegame module based on a user request input to the game module through theuser input interface of the mobile terminal.
 13. The mobile terminal ofclaim 12, wherein the user input interface comprises a keypad of themobile terminal and wherein the information associated with the game isinventory information associated with a character of the game.
 14. Amethod of supplementing game module resources with a mobile terminal,the method comprising: communicatively linking the mobile terminal tothe game module using a data interface of the mobile terminal; andutilizing a memory and/or a user interface of the mobile terminal tosupplement resources of the game module.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein utilizing a memory and/or a user interface comprises: obtaininguser data associated with a game from the game module; and saving theobtained user data in the memory responsive to a user request.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 further comprising providing saved user data from thememory to the game module.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the userinterface comprises a display of the mobile terminal and whereinutilizing a memory and/or a user interface comprises: coupling thedisplay of the mobile terminal to the game module; and using the displayof the mobile terminal to display supplemental game user informationwhile continuing display of graphics associated with a game on a displayof the game module.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the userinterface comprises a user input interface and wherein utilizing amemory and/or a user interface comprises: coupling the user inputinterface of the mobile terminal to the game module; and inputting auser request to the game module through the user input interface of themobile terminal to obtain information associated with the game from thegame module.
 19. A computer program product for supplementing gamemodule resources with a mobile terminal, the computer program productcomprising computer program code embodied in a computer readable medium,the computer program code comprising program code configured to carryout the method of claim
 14. 20. A computer program product forsupplementing game module resources with a mobile terminal, the computerprogram product comprising computer program code embodied in a computerreadable medium, the computer program code comprising program codeconfigured to carry out the method of claim 15.